Obstructive sleep apnea causes day-time fatigue and drowsiness due to poor quality sleep. This poses a concern to the trucking and railroad community for those occupying safety-sensitive positions in the industry. The sessions will discuss the effect on safety, and the cost and benefits of imposing regulations.

The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the transportation spending bill on April 21 after addressing the status of the 34-hour restart if the Department of Transportation’s study cannot show the benefits to drivers. The provision in the FY2017 bill speaks to preventing driver abuse of the restart rule stating, “If the 34-hour restart rule in effect on June 30, 2013, is restored, then drivers who use the 34-hour restart may not drive after being on duty more than 73 hours in a 7-day period."

The bill also demands the Transportation Department to release its proposed rule for speed limiters for Class 7 and 8 trucks by April 28, 2016. Read more about the $16.9 billion in discretionary appropriations and the $44 billion from the Highway Trust Fund.

Spot market freight volume saw a boost of 38% in the month of March but according to the DAT North American Freight Index it still remains at one of its lowest levels in years. When compared to the previous month, freight availability in flatbed, van, and reefer volume all increased. However year over year spot market freight availability fell 35%.

Photo Source: DAT Solutions

The silver lining; since January of 2015, freight has continually declined until March 2016 where we have finally seen an uptick. The industry is hopeful the upward trend will continue.

“Choosing the winner among these three finalists was not an easy decision,” said Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women in Trucking. “Shelley is very deserving of this award. Increasing revenue by nearly $2 billion over a five-year period shows she is a mover and knows how to get things done. She is well-respected not only as a woman in logistics, but also as a mentor to many women.”

She had formidable competition in the other finalists, Elizabeth Fretheim, director, Logistics Sustainability at Walmart and Liz Lasater, CEO of Red Arrow Logistics. Both highly skilled and seasoned with experience, all three women have made great gains for the transportation industry as a whole.

The month of March saw great gains in employment in the private sector. According to the National Employment Report from payroll processor ADP, a total of 200,000 jobs in US nonfarm private business sector were added from February to March. Below are more March stats released;

Change in business by size:

Small (1-49) increased 86,000 jobs

Midsized (50-499) increased 75,000 jobs

Large (500+) increased 39,000 jobs

Change by sector and industry:

Goods-producing sector increased 9,000 jobs

Construction sector increased 17,000 jobs

Manufacturing sector increased 3,000 jobs

Service Providing sector increased by 191,000 jobs

Trade, Transportation & Utilities increased by 42,000 jobs

Financial Activities increased by 14,000 jobs

Professional & Business increased by 28,000 jobs

With the increase in jobs, consumer confidence has also improved, manifested through modest gains in spending and incomes.

“The consumer appears to be on still-fragile, albeit still-positive footing despite stagnant wage growth, only modest improvement in the jobs market and limited confidence surrounding the sustainability of the U.S. recovery, said Piegza. “Nevertheless, thanks in part to lower gas prices, consumers feel slightly wealthier and continue to do what they do best, spend, even if that additional cash comes amid ongoing global weakness and volatility.”

February’s upward trend is noteworthy when comparing tonnage rates for February 2015. The index is up 8.6% year-to-date compared with last year’s index which was up only 4.5%.

This is good news for the transportation industry which started the year at a sluggish pace. February’s increase is the largest monthly move for truck tonnage index in two years.

“I’m still concerned about the elevated inventories throughout the supply chain," Bob Costello, chief economist of American Trucking Associations said. "Last week, the Census Bureau reported that relative to sales, inventories rose again in January, which is troubling. We need those inventories reduced before trucking can count on more consistent, better freight volumes.”

While companies wait for surplus inventory to reduce, the outlook is bright when reflecting on the overall index surges.

Josh Grimaldi was recognized for his quick reaction helping a pregnant woman from her crushed car during an icy accident. As Highway Hero of the Year, Grimaldi received a trophy, EpicVue satellite TV package with a 24-inch flat screen TV, a DVR and one year subscription to DirecTV.

Bison Transport and FTC Transportation were chosen from a list of the top 20 finalists in the “Best Fleets to Driver For” survey and contest. Bison Transport won in the larger carrier category and FTC won in the small carrier category. Both carriers showed a driver satisfaction rate above 90% and a driver turnover rate of less than 30%. Read more.

“Both have taken a holistic approach to improving fleet operations and working to build a more efficient, more inclusive fleet that all drivers can benefit from,” said Jane Jazrawy, CEO of CarriersEdge. “As a result, they have happier drivers, who focus on doing their jobs better, leading to better safety and more efficient operations. This, in turn, makes everyone happier… and the cycle continues.”

Upon the requests of the trucking associations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has extended the public comment period for the proposed rule on safety fitness determinations for motor carriers. Comments are due on June 23, 2016.

The proposed rule would replace the current three-tier rating system (satisfactory-conditional-unsatisfactory) with simply a determination of “unfit.”

Per FMCSA, the proposed methodology would determine when a carrier is not fit to operate commercial motor vehicles based on:

The carrier’s performance in relation to a fixed failure threshold established in the rule for five of the agency’s Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs)

Investigation results; or

A combination of on-road safety data and investigation information

Once a carrier is deemed “unfit” they are required to either improve operations or cease operations. The rule would also increase the amount of companies the FMCSA is allowed to assess for safety fitness each month from 15,000 to 75,000.

February, 2016 - Women in Trucking recently announced its three finalists for the second annual Distinguished Woman in Logistics Award. The award is to highlight the achievements of women in the North American transportation industry. Each finalist has demonstrated tremendous leadership at some of the industry’s premier companies.

“The award highlights the vital roles of leading women in the dynamic and increasingly influential field of commercial transportation and logistics, which encompasses both logistics service providers as well as motor carriers.”

The finalists are:

Elizabeth Fretheim, Director of Logistics Sustainability, Walmart – Elizabeth provides strategic direction to the third largest private fleet in the nation and over 150 distribution centers. Over the past 10 years she has saved more than $3.5 billion through sustainability efforts and initiatives.

Shelley Simpson, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Integrated Capacity Solutions and Truckload for J. B. Hunt – Over the past five years, Shelley has increased revenue from $4.5 to $6.2 billion for J. B. Hunt, leading her business unit to rank among the top five of third party logistics companies in the industry.

Liz Lasater, Founder and Red Arrow Logistics Chief Executive Officer – Liz possesses more than 20 years of broad international and domestic experience in global transportation and logistics. She speaks worldwide on supply chain trends and how to utilize technology for solutions. Her presence on numerous transportation boards shows her commitment and love for the industry.

The winner will be announced Friday, April 8, during the TIA Annual Business Meeting and Opening Session at the Grand Hyatt, San Antonia, TX.

February, 2016 - The American Trucking Associations hired Mike Joyce as the new Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs on February 16, 2016. He has a variety of expertise stemming from Capitol Hill and the trucking industry. His impressive resume includes, Director of Government Relations for ATA allied member PACCAR Inc., and working under Congressmen Bud Shuster, Bill Shuster, and Mac Collins.

“Much of the value of a membership of ATA comes from the advocacy efforts put forth by the staff in Washington, specifically on Capitol Hill,” said Dave Osiecki, ATA Executive Vice President and Chief of National Advocacy. “Mike’s depth of knowledge and experience with the issues that impact trucking the most made him an obvious choice for us and will make him a valuable member of the advocacy team.”

February, 2016 - Joe DeLorenzo, of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), spoke on what changes to expect regarding electronic logging devices (ELDs) at the Omnitracs Outlook 2016 user Conference on February 2, 2016. On February 16, manufacturers will be able to register and self-certify their ELD products. Drivers are expected to adopt the use of ELDs by Dec. 16, 2017.

To reduce the anxiety some may be feeling about the ELD mandate, DeLorenzo talked about 8 key things to remember during the transition period.

February, 2016 - All those involved in the supply chain know it's a delicate ecosystem that can be thrown off track by the slightest mishap. Arash Azadegan, a professor of supply chain procurement at Rutgers University, noted that, “because of JIT [just in time] practices, the Internet, and globalization, the ‘dominoes’ of the supply chain are now very close together – and the closer they are, the faster they fall. It’s what's called the ‘ricochet effect.”

Azadegan found there are four phases to supply chain disruption:

Phase 1, the “signaling” of the impending disruption,
Phase 2, the start of the damage,
Phase 3, the escalation/peak crisis point of the damage, and finally
Phase 4, the dissipation/recovery period.

Intrigued by its sensitive nature, Azadegan researched what specific leadership qualities were found in supply chain managers who effectively recovered from supply chain disasters. In Phase 1, successful managers were decisive, direct and controlling. Phases 2 & 3 requires managers accommodating to input and ideas for solutions. Phase 4 requires leaders to be direct and decisive during the recovery phase.

Below illustrates what tactic Azadegan advises should accompany the leadership skills during each phase. Read more for an example of a real life supply chain disaster and how proactive thinking and response meant everything.

January, 2016 - Over the years, the transportation industry has tried to develop new ways to mitigate these monster traffic jams in areas with extreme congestion, limited infrastructure or precarious weather. Colorado’s Interstate 70 is one of these roads where traffic is heavy, and weather is questionable due to its high elevation. Traditional methods of dealing with congestion, like widening the roads, are not an option. Blasting zones are too close to communities, preserving the mountains is a priority, and not to mention the cost is astronomical. Instead, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is pioneering new technology developed by HERE, a transportation IT Company. HERE has worked on intelligent infrastructure projects in Finland and the Netherlands and hope, through this partnership, to launch a project on I-70.

Amy Ford, director of communications for CDOT, points out I-70’s unique challenges as it is a highly traveled route, has unique traffic patterns due to tourist travel, and is subject to intense weather in the Rocky Mountains, therefore making it a great testing ground. To begin developing this “smart road,” CDOT-HERE is launching a connected vehicle pilot project, which uses vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication.

Passenger cars will be fitted with a control box that sends information about road conditions via cellular networks. The idea is that this will give near real-time data providing a full picture of the road conditions on I-70. In an interview with Fleet Owner, Ford said, "It'll be hyper-located, hyper-specific information we're pulling off the corridor. Pull it up into the cloud, feed it with other information that we have and turn it back to the vehicles.” The hope is that CDOT fleet and trucking companies will be able to get involved as well, likely using dedicated shortwave radios to collect and send data.

The goal is to build an infrastructure that communicates with drivers providing updates on safety issues and traffic backups. For everyone 10 minutes an accident is in place on I-70, it takes about an hour for traffic to clear. "If connected vehicle technology has the capacity to inform drivers and keep them more engaged — hey, the queue has slowed up ahead, the car ahead has slowed, slow down now — we could minimize those kinds of traffic problems," Ford says. "We think there could be tremendous benefit in the efficiency of how that corridor moves, let alone the safety impacts."

This pilot is the beginning of a larger initiative called RoadX and is set to launch the winter of 2016-17.

January, 2016 - Scott Darling has been the interim Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for the past sixteen months, and is finally in the process to make it official. At the nomination of President Obama, Darling will go before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, January 20.

Dedicated to the position, Darling has championed many initiatives closing out 2015. In response to his nomination, Darling expressed what, he feels, should be FMCSA’s top 3 initiatives going into 2016.

Increase truck and bus safety

Improve the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability program

Improve the accuracy and collection of data critical for rule, program, and regulation creation

With a history riddled with transportation experience, many feel Darling is the right person for the Administrator position.

January, 2016 - Did you pay attention to the escalating trend of e-commerce deliveries this past holiday season? All the supply chain changes and new innovate manufacturing and warehousing approaches will each impact trucking and logistics requirements to bring products to market. The already pressed labor market will increase as the demand for more deliveries due to products being manufactured in the US will increase. The infrastructure of fulfillment of product movement will morph from large remote distribution centers to last mile, urban delivery. As always in transportation, the future will be marked by new regulations, greater demand and short supply of qualified drivers. Are you ready for change?

John Larkin, managing director and head of transportation capital markets research at Stifel Financial Corp. feels the trucking industry faces good changes and bad changes in the New Year.

“The U.S. is gaining a competitive advantage as labor costs outside of [America] rise faster than costs in the U.S. are rising. Additionally, accelerating improvements in the worlds of manufacturing automation and 3D printing increase the odds of a re-acceleration in the nearshoring and in-sourcing phenomena [more] actively discussed prior to the relatively recent spike in the value of the U.S. dollar.”

John Larkin points out that these trends and insourcing phenomena to save costs will consequently increase freight demand. If full production of products returned to the U.S. it would increase the amount of touches transportation companies potentially have, in terms of hauling raw material, semi-finished products, parts components, sub-assemblies etc. Currently when goods are produced overseas, domestic transportation companies have one to two touches. Larkin feels that this trend of insourcing coupled with the desire to shorten the supply chains could potentially increase that to eight to 12 touches.

“Ultimately, rapid delivery of infinitely flexible/tailored products is possible, if not likely, within the next 10 to 20 years,” Larkin says.

Unfortunately with this boost in freight and opportunity, comes the issue of a capacity shortage. The capacity shortage shifts power to carriers to select the customers, lanes, and freight. This results in an increase in efficiency and equipment utilization to maintain the highest unit of revenue.

Did you pay attention to the escalating trend of e-commerce deliveries this past holiday season? All the supply chain changes and new innovate manufacturing and warehousing approaches will each impact trucking and logistics requirements to bring products to market. The already pressed labor market will increase as the demand for more deliveries due to products being manufactured in the US will increase. The infrastructure of fulfillment of product movement will morph from large remote distribution centers to last mile, urban delivery. As always in transportation, the future will be marked by new regulations, greater demand and short supply of qualified drivers. Are you ready for change?

John Larkin, managing director and head of transportation capital markets research at Stifel Financial Corp. feels the trucking industry faces good changes and bad changes in the New Year.

“The U.S. is gaining a competitive advantage as labor costs outside of [America] rise faster than costs in the U.S. are rising. Additionally, accelerating improvements in the worlds of manufacturing automation and 3D printing increase the odds of a re-acceleration in the nearshoring and in-sourcing phenomena [more] actively discussed prior to the relatively recent spike in the value of the U.S. dollar.”

John Larkin points out that these trends and insourcing phenomena to save costs will consequently increase freight demand. If full production of products returned to the U.S. it would increase the amount of touches transportation companies potentially have, in terms of hauling raw material, semi-finished products, parts components, sub-assemblies etc. Currently when goods are produced overseas, domestic transportation companies have one to two touches. Larkin feels that this trend of insourcing coupled with the desire to shorten the supply chains could potentially increase that to eight to 12 touches.

“Ultimately, rapid delivery of infinitely flexible/tailored products is possible, if not likely, within the next 10 to 20 years,” Larkin says.

Unfortunately with this boost in freight and opportunity, comes the issue of a capacity shortage. The capacity shortage shifts power to carriers to select the customers, lanes, and freight. This results in an increase in efficiency and equipment utilization to maintain the highest unit of revenue.

December, 2015 - Many drivers can attest to the industry issue of drivers being pressured to violate federal safety regulations for the sake of a load. The FMCSA received many reports of drivers being threatened “with job termination, denial of subsequent trips or loads, reduced pay, forfeiture of favorable work hours or transportation jobs, or other direct retaliations.”

There has been a process set in place for whistle-blowing protection through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, however it has proved not to be enough thus prompting a new FMCSA rule.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published its “Prohibiting Coercion of Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers” rule on November 30 and it will go into effect January 29, 2016. This rule prohibits motor carriers, shippers, receivers, or transportation intermediaries from coercing drivers to drive commercial vehicles in violation of Federal regulations.

The rule addresses three key areas:

Process and procedure for reporting coercion incidents to the FMCSA

Steps and actions the FMCSA may take when responding to the allegations

Penalties that may be given to entities found coercing drivers

The FMCSA outlines the definition of coercion and states that one of the penalties could result in a fine of up to $16,000 for each offense.

“No commercial driver should ever feel compelled to bypass important federal safety regulations and potentially endanger the lives of all travelers on the road,” said Scott Darling, FMCSA Acting Administrator.

December, 2015 - A simplified online registration process has been launched in an effort to streamline the registration of trucking companies with the US Department of Transportation or renewing a DOT registration. This Unified Registration System (URS) is also aimed at improving efficiency, reducing errors and strengthening safety for the motoring public.

The URS will also apply to freight forwarders, brokers, intermodal equipment providers and cargo tank manufacturing, inspection and repair facilities that need U.S. DOT registration.

When fully implemented in 2016, the new URS will allow FMCSA to quickly identify unfit carriers and detect unsafe truck and bus companies that are seeking to evade enforcement actions, such as civil penalties. In the past, some of these unfit companies would often attempt to regain U.S. DOT registration by registering as a purported different, unrelated business entity. The implementation of URS is expected to reduce costs to the industry by about $9 million in time saved and fees incurred over a 10-year period, according to FMCSA.

December, 2015 - The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act proposed by the House-Senate Conference Committee has officially been approved. On December 3, with a vote of 359 to 65, the House of Representatives passed the FAST Act, and only hours after the House made their decision, the Senate also passed the bill with a vote of 83 to 16. President Obama then signed the highway bill into law on December 4, 2015, just in time before funding expired at midnight.

The $305 billion bill stretches five years and is fully funded. According to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee it, “refocuses on national priorities, provides long-term certainty and more flexibility for states and local governments.”

The American Trucking Associations is overall very pleased with the bill, especially with the steps it takes to reform the CSA Safety Monitoring System.

December, 2015 - The conference committee has finally released the compromise highway bill, Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST). FAST is a fully funded five-year bill that will spend $205 billion on highways and $48 billion on transit projects over the next five years. It was a compromise between the STRR Act passed by the House and the DRIVE Act passed by the Senate earlier this year. Now final, the bill will be voted on by Congress, before the looming December 4 deadline. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House says we can, “expect to have very good majority support.”

The transportation industry is overwhelmingly relieved to see a long-term bill be proposed after all the temporary fixes that plagued us this year, and anxiously awaits the official vote. However not all are happy with its outcome. Michael Sargent pointed out that the “deal enables more deficit spending out of the Highway Trust Fund without any real reform.” He feels that this bill continues down the path of “chronic overspending and misallocation of resources.”

Authorizes “a new testing method to detect the use of drugs and alcohol by commercial motor vehicle drivers”

The bill will be voted on this week and if approved will find its way to the President’s desk. “We have waited a long time for our congressional leaders to make transportation infrastructure a national priority and it appears that it has been worth the wait,” said Jeff Loveng, America’s Infrastructure Alliance President.

December, 2015 - The long debated highway bill is expected to be unveiled today, Tuesday December 1, 2015. Congress must produce a bill before the federal transportation funding expires on December 4, 2015, or the Department of Transportation will stop making payments to the state and local governments for infrastructure projects.

Several temporary extensions have been passed in order to keep the funding going while the House and Senate work on a compromise for the purposed long-term bill. It is the first transportation bill to propose funding for longer than two years since 2005. The major difference between the House version and the Senate version is the avenue in which transportation projects will be funded over the next six years.

Congress aims to get a final bill to President Obama by December 4, 2015, so the industry expects an announcement sometime today.